Sources Guide
The GVSU Sources Guide is a topical arrangement of Grand Valley faculty
and staff members who can serve as sources for reporters in search of
commentary on breaking news stories or subjects for features.

The faculty members listed in the guide are also available as speakers for area
clubs and organizations. Arrangements can be made with the speakers directly
or through News & Information.

Judy Whipps earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy at Union Institute with a dissertation on "Philosophy and Social Activism: An Exploration of the Pragmatism and Activism of Jane Addams, John Dewey and Engaged Buddhism." She also holds an M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a B.A. from the Liberal Studies program at Grand Valley State University.

Her main interests are American philosophy, particularly the intersection of feminism and pragmatism, as well as philosophy of education. Recent publications include "Jane Addams's Writings on Peace," "Jane Addams's Social Thought as a Model for a Pragmatist-Feminist Communitarianism," an article on "Pragmatist Feminism" for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and essays on Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Jessie Taft, and Emily Greene Balch in American Women Philosophers (edited by Dorothy Rogers, Thoemmes Press). She also regularly presents papers about liberal education and interdisciplinarity, and has edited two editions of the GVSU Liberal Education Reader.

Whipps is chair of the Liberal Studies Department. She is also one of the co-founders of the West Michigan Women Studies Council.